Lee O’Donnell lands first-ever monster truck front flip

Lee O’Donnell might not have a Wikipedia page, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going down in history. The legendary driver became the first man to ever land a front flip in a monster truck at the Monster Jam World Finals 18 in Las Vegas.

Behind the wheel of Mad Scientist, O’Donnell executed the first successful front flip in history, to the delight of thousands of cheering fans. As you can see, the maneuver doesn’t look even remotely safe, so more power to O’Donnell

After watching that ridiculous truck careen through the air, it’s clear just how sketchy that was. Lee has been driving monster trucks full-time for a decade; he knows how his truck better than he knows himself. And he still barely managed to stick the landing – rotate a couple more degrees and who’s to say what would have happened…

But O’Donnell stuck the landing in the custom-built 1500 hp Mad Scientist, which boasts a 540 cl engine. As far as boasting from Lee, though, that’s a different story. He acknowledged his historic accomplishment like a boss, simply tweeting out “just another day at the office.”

Say what you will about Monster Jam, or monster trucks in general, but there’s no taking away from what Lee did. You don’t need to be a car nut to appreciate his front flip. You don’t even need to know how to drive stick or change your own oil. All you need is eyes, and in a time when the country seems as divided as ever, most anything that builds consensus is a step in the right direction.